


A Fine Romance

by pickyourselfupfred



Series: Fred and Ginger forever [11]
Category: Astaire/Rogers RPF, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers Movies
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 09:50:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3115610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickyourselfupfred/pseuds/pickyourselfupfred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beginning their work on Swing Time. Why this movie seems so special (at least to me and a whole bunch of others out there). This is a bit of a tease for Samantha and OldMoviesAreIt  - you know what I'm building to!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fine Romance

Fred had not been able to see Ginger since the end of ‘Follow the Fleet’. It wasn’t for want of trying but circumstances had prevented it. Consequently when George Stevens, who was to direct their next movie, asked them both to call in his office at RKO, Fred hoped to have a quiet talk with Ginger alone. It wasn’t to be though as he was already chatting to George before she arrived. He gave her a friendly peck though their eyes said something different. As they seated themselves George began.  
‘I’m going to tell you something that I might regret but I think is important to say. Ginger and I are very good friends’.  
Fred knew immediately, though he couldn’t say why, that this was the man Ginger had told him she dated and also slept with. The thought of what Stevens might be about to say filled him with dread.  
‘Well, actually a little more than friends. I like her; in fact I’ve been more than a little in love with her. She’s a sweet girl but frankly all through my time with her we were only going through the motions. She doesn’t and won’t ever love me. I know it and can move on from that. So who does she love then? Well I’ve been around the studio a bit and think it’s fairly obvious’.  
He smiled as Ginger reached for Fred’s hand.  
‘You two are so close and I’m a hundred percent sure that you’re both very much in love’.  
Fred looked at Ginger and she nodded.  
‘Yes, we are’.  
‘Good’, George replied. Now I can go on. If you will trust me I can make this movie really great. You’re good actors and I don’t think you’ve been stretched in any of your films so far and I know I can bring out the best in you. Plus’, he chuckled, ‘if you want anytime together off camera I can arrange that too. Now what do you say?’  
Neither Fred nor Ginger knew how to reply to this totally unexpected situation but finally Fred said, ‘Thanks George, we’re in your hands’.  
To which Ginger added, ‘You really are one of the good guys’.  
‘No problem’, he replied, ‘Now I’m going to leave you here. I guess you’ve a lot to talk about’.

‘Well’, said Fred, ‘I didn’t see that coming’.  
‘It’ll be great for us’.  
‘Yes……. Gin I need to talk to you’.  
‘You sound kinda serious’.  
‘I am. You know what I said after the wrap party’.  
‘About our situation?’  
‘Yeah. I asked Phyllis for a divorce again. I told her I’d make provision for her son and Fred and she could have the house, the ranch, anything she wanted but she turned me down flat. I got angry and told her I was in love with someone else’.  
‘Oh Fred’.  
‘She guessed it was you straightaway’.  
‘What did she say?’  
‘If you must know she said, “It’s that little tart from New York isn’t it?” Sorry Gin, that’s how bad it is’.  
‘What now then?’  
‘I’ve told her that while I’m making pictures with you I’m going to be with you whenever I want. I’ll be discreet but I’m not going to put you through any more stress’.  
‘We can’t do that Fred’.  
‘We can and we will, I promise you that. At least it’s in the open now and I don’t have to make any excuses’.  
‘Can it work? – I’d love it to’.  
‘It will. Now come here, I haven’t kissed you in ages’.

Whether it was because Fred could now be with her 24/7 if he wished or just the freedom of knowing there were no more secrets, it seemed that their relationship had zoomed back to the first intensity and excitement of falling in love. They drifted about the rehearsal studio with dreamy eyes, touching hands whenever they could and using dance moves as excuses for embraces. They had told Pan, of course, and he thought that he’d let them have this week but after that he’d crack the whip and really make them work. It did make him happy to see them like this. She, if anything, looked more beautiful than ever and Fred had lost that worried expression that had clouded his face.

It so happened that this was Fred’s birthday week. He didn’t like birthdays – it meant getting a year older – and Ginger hadn’t mentioned anything special. He went home that day to spend time with the baby and do the family birthday thing. Funnily enough there was less tension now Phyllis knew about Ginger but he looked forward to being back with her that evening.

When he let himself in that night he heard their song, ‘Smoke gets in your Eyes’ playing on the gramophone. He followed the music into the lounge where Ginger was waiting for him. She was wearing the pale pink evening gown he had given her in New York. He’d no idea she still had it and was touched that she wore it tonight. She wore no make up – she knew he preferred that. Sure she looked great made up but her natural beauty eclipsed any artifice.  
‘Happy Birthday Fred’.  
She gave him a package. It was a hand made silk tie in a shade of blue that matched her eyes. She knew he would appreciate it and could see he liked it a lot. She had put together a selection of canapés for him – she knew he wasn’t much of an eater – with all his favorite savouries. He was happy to snuggle up whilst she fed him the snacks. She loved the way he kissed and licked her fingers; it felt very intimate and special.  
After eating she told him to come to the bedroom in ten minutes and she’d give him his other present. He watched the clock anxiously.

When he arrived she was wearing a thin robe. She had spread black satin sheets over the bed and as the room was mainly white it gave a feeling of the Deco stage sets in their movies. As he approached she removed the robe. She wore nothing but a sheer, black bra with nipple cut-outs and her panties were little more than a small triangle of the same material tied with ribbons.  
‘I know you guys like your fantasies’, she grinned.  
She looks great naked, he thought, but these wisps of fabric make her incredibly sexy. Her nipples, jutting out, excited him even more and he had to go to her and kiss them. She loved the softness of his lips on her body and this garment was getting in the way so she let him reach behind her and undo the bra.  
‘Well that didn’t last long’, she chuckled as it fell to the floor.  
‘You said it was my fantasy’, he said huskily and loosed the ribbons to remove the panties. She had shaved the shape of a heart down there and watched as he traced the outline with his finger.  
‘I like this – it suits you very well. And I feel frightfully overdressed right now’.  
‘I can do something about that’, and she quickly undressed him. They tumbled onto the bed where Fred said, between kisses, ‘This is the best birthday present I’ve ever had’.  
‘And you’ve got nearly three hours of your birthday left’.  
Fred whispered his suggestions of how to fill the time and she happily complied.

Fortunately the following day was a rest day for which both were very grateful. As they lay in bed Fred started to talk about the dance they were going to work on next day. They loved the premise of the routine. Ginger was going to teach Fred how to dance.  
‘Of course’, she said, ‘I taught you all you know’.  
‘In the bedroom department’, he added.  
She stroked him where he enjoyed it most.  
‘Maybe you could learn some new moves’.  
‘Oh boy, here we go again’.

They did, actually, rehearse next day. Pan observed how tired they both looked and given they’d hardly had any sleep for the last two nights, totally spent was more like it. Fred was forced to admit, ’Well I was up all night’, which was accompanied by a sly grin at Ginger. However they managed to block out most of the steps for ‘Pick Yourself Up’ – a title, which Fred murmured, he probably be unable to do for a little while. She countered with the suggestion that ‘start all over again’ was her favorite line.

Ginger always loved the rehearsal period. She could get really close to him, both of them literally breathing in the same air and their bodies moulded together. Before this new period in their lives it had become a lifeline for her, time when he was truly all hers. She had expected to find that now they were closer than ever in their private lives rehearsals would be less intense but she found that they generated even more passion in both of them. It really was like falling in love all over again. Fred couldn’t keep his hands off her, forever circling her waist or stroking her hair. She wanted to touch him even more intimately but channelled it into rubbing his back or cheek. It was all a bit crazy but being in love could do that to you.

Once ‘Pick Yourself Up’ was in shape Fred moved on to the waltz they were doing in the movie. They both loved to dance a waltz, that most romantic of dances. The routine he envisaged had lots of close body holds and spins for Ginge as well as some light fluffiness in the middle section. They’d both come to a mutual decision to hold off on the lengthy sexual encounters they had been enjoying. Marathons in bed and eight hour rehearsal days didn’t really work so they had embarked on a regime of as much kissing and cuddling but absolutely nothing else. Privately they both wondered how they’d hold out but had managed three days so far. Sadly, as the waltz came together their resolve grew weaker. In the final session on the fifth day when they were all alone cracks appeared.

Fred started it; well that’s what Ginger told him later. They were running through some of the steps where Fred would push her away and then pull her back into him. Purely by accident (or so he claimed) as he pushed he had connected with her breast. As she spun back she chuckled, ‘Watch it buster!’  
He kept her closely in hold as they both circled and replied, ‘You’re so hot I could take you right now’.  
‘Keep dancing’.  
He pulled her in, even tighter, still turning.  
‘You’re pushing all my buttons Gin. Just feel me baby’.  
She didn’t have to touch him to know how aroused he was.  
‘Love you Freddie’.  
They stopped dancing.  
He took her face between his hands.  
‘You’re so gorgeous, the best thing in my life’.  
‘It was a silly idea, wasn’t it?’  
‘What?’  
‘No sex’.  
‘Ridiculous’.  
He pulled her towards the couch in the corner.  
‘When we film this dance you’ll remember me inside you. You’ll think about how you begged for more because it was so good’.  
‘If you don’t stop talking and start doing something I won’t have anything to remember at all’.  
He didn’t bother to reply but started to remove her clothes. They had fast and furious sex and as Fred whispered after his final thrust,  
‘Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder’.


End file.
